Mounting for electrical terminals and method of making same



Jan. 2, 1968 o sso 3,361,251

MOUNTING FOR ELECTRICAL TBRMiNALs AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed July22, 1966 United States Patent 3,361,251 MOUNTING FOR ELECTRICALTERMINALS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Billy E. Olsson, New Cumberland,Pa., assiguor to Vaco Products Company, a corporation of Illinois FiledJuly 22, 1966, Ser. No. 567,239 6 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A deformable strip serves as a mounting and feed beltcarrying a plurality of individual connector terminals secured thereonto extend laterally therefrom. Each of the illustrated connectorterminals has a fiat end portion provided with an aperture and a tubularbarrel portion extending laterally from the strip. The strip is providedwith an aperture for each terminal position for registry with butsmaller than the terminal aperture. The strip is embossed to form anannular stub through the terminal aperture, the stub then being flaredto prevent escape of the terminal. Finally, the strip is embossed toprovide ab'utments oppositely flanking outer edges of the terminal in atriangularly spaced relationship with the stub.

This invention relates to a belt mounting for individual electricalterminals for facilitating the securement of a conductor to eachterminal, and is particularly concerned with a means and method ofmounting the terminals in stable but easily removable relation upon aflat strip.

In accordance with my invention, a plurality of electri' cal terminalseach having a fiat apert'ured end portion and a tubular barrel arepositioned in predetermined position and in uniformly spacedrelationship on a flat strip of deformable material, with the barrel ofeach terminal accessible for receiving one end of a conductor. Eachterminal has its flat end portion seated on the flat strip, and thestrip is embossed to extend a portion thereof through the aperture ofeach terminal to prevent lateral translational movement of the terminalrelative to the strip. Thereafter, the portion of the strip projectingthrough the aperture is deformed by pressure applied in the oppositedirection to cause the outer end of said portion of the strip to overlapthe edge portion of the terminal defining its aperture, thus holding theterminal captive upon the strip.

Concurrently with the initial deformation of the strip, or subsequentthereto, other portions of the strip are deformed to provide guideprojections in laterally abutting engagement with opposite edges of eachterminal to hold the terminals against rotational movement about an axisthrough its aperture. The projections are so located relative to theaperture of the terminal that the members supporting the terminalagainst movement relative to the strip are spaced in triangularrelationship.

Thus, a simplified belt mounting is provided for holding each terminalin proper position as the belt is advanced through a crimping stationwhere a conductor is fitted and secured within the barrel of eachterminal.

The overlap of the embossed portion of the strip relative to theterminal is sufiicient to hold the terminal against accidentaldisplacement in a direction normal to the plane of the strip, but iseasily releasable upon application of pressure in the proper directionto permit removal of the terminal and conductor from the strip.

Numerous advantages of the invention will become readily apparent fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings illustrating the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a strip of deformablematerial with a plurality of electrical terminals mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the strip and terminals atdifferent stages of assembly;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken in the planeindicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing deformation of the stripin one direction to emboss a stub portion of the strip through theaperture in the terminal; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional View taken in the plane indicated by theline 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing the final assembly of the strip andterminal.

In the drawings, an electrical terminal 11 comprises a flat end portion12 provided with an aperture 13 and a tubular barrel 14 extending fromthe fiat end portion. The barrel 14 is adapted to receive one end of aconductor (not shown) and is thereafter crimped inwardly to hold theconductor firmly in place.

For the mounting belt, a strip 15 of deformable material, such as thinmetal or plastic, for example, 0.010 inch thick cold rolled steel, isprovided with a plurality of uniformly spaced apertures 16, each havinga diameter smaller than the diameter of the apertures 13. The strip isalso provided with a pair of slits 17 and 18 positioned in triangularrelationship to each aperture 16. The aperture 16 and the slits 17, 18may be formed in a single punching operation or the slits may be formedconcurrently with a staking operation referred to hereinafter. Thelocation of the slits is selected with reference to the shape of theflat end portion 12 of the terminal. When a terminal 11 is in properposition on the strip, as hereinafter described, the slits of each pairare substantially coincident with opposite edges of the tapered sectionof the flat end portion 12 of the terminal.

Each terminal is mounted on the strip 15 by seating its flat end portionon the top surface of the strip with its aperture 13 axially alignedwith an aperture 16 of the strip. The tubular barrel 14 of the terminalextends laterally outwardly from one longitudinal edge of the strip. Anembossing punch 19 (FIG. 3) presses the edge portions of the stripbordering the aperture 16 through the aperture 13 to form an integrallyupstanding stub 21 projecting through and above the flat end portion 12.The stub 21 has an outer diameter equal to the diameter of the aperture13. The engagement of the stub 21 with the aperture 13 is sufficient toprevent lateral movement of the terminal 11 relative to the strip 15.

After the integral stub 21 has been for-med, and the punch 19 has beenretracted, a staking punch 22 (FIG. 4) is moved into the upper end ofthe stub 21 in a direction opposite the direction in which the embossingpunch 19 was moved to form the stub. The staking punch 22 is tapered, asindicated at 23, to flare or flange the outer end of the stub 21outwardly to overlap the edge of the terminal bordering the aperture 13,as indicated at 24. The overlapping engagement of the flared stub 21with the terminal 11 is sufficient to prevent accidental displacement ofthe terminal in a direction normal to the plane of the strip 15, but isnot strong enough to resist removal of the terminal from the strip bysubstantial force applied to the members in the proper direction.

The portions of the strip 15 outwardly of the slits 17 and 18 areembossed simultaneously with the staking of the stub 21, or previouslythereto, to form guide projections 25 and 26 which are disposed inabutting engagement with opposite edges of the terminal 11 to hold theterminal against rotational movement about an axis through its aperture.The projections 25 and 26 are located in a triangular relationship tothe stub 21 and are free of any overlapping engagement with the terminal11 but being immediately adjacent the terminal edges are effective toprevent rotation of the terminal about the stub 21.

The belt mounting of this invention is seen to be inexpensive andconvenient to fabricate on a continuous mass production basis. Each stub21, in addition to cooperating With the projections 25 and 26 to holdthe terminal in an accurately determined stable relation duringprocessing through an automotive crimping station, serves a dualfunction in also serving as a feed hole for registering the advance ofthe belt through the crimping station.

The three point contact established with each terminal achieves thedesired positioning stability without requiring extreme mechanicaloverlap between the strip and each of the terminals so that ultimatefreeing of each terminal is facilitated. In addition, the barrel portion14 of each terminal, which is to be engaged in the actual crimpingoperation, is free of any overlapping strip portions and this affordseasier access of the crimping punches to the barrel.

Although I have described the invention in considerable detail, it Willbe understood that the description thereof is intended to beillustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of structure maybe modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exactstructure described.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a fiat strip and a plurality of electrical terminalsmounted thereon, each of said terminals comprising a flat end portionseated on one surface of said strip and a barrel portion extendingoutwardly of one longitudinal edge of said strip, said flat end portionhaving an aperture, spaced means on said strip and each projectingthrough a separate one of said apertures, each of said means holding aseparate one of said terminals against lateral translational movementand against movement normal to the plane of said strip, and a pluralityof pairs of guide projections on said strip and extending from said onesurface, each of said pair of projections abutting the opposite edges ofa corresponding one of said terminals to hold the same againstrotational movement about an axis through its aperture.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, in which said d spaced meanscomprises a tubular stub for each of said terminals, and said stub andprojections for each terminal are disposed in triangularly space-drelationship.

3. The combination recited in claim 2 in which said stubs andprojections are integral with said strip and said projections provideonly sidewise abutting engagement with said terminals.

4. The combination recited in claim 3 in which each of said stubs flaresoutwardly to overlap the edge portion of the adjacent terminal definingthe aperture through which it extends, the overlapping engagement ofsaid stubs relative to said terminal permitting separation of saidterminal from said strip by pressure applied against said terminal in adirection normal to the plane of said strip.

5. The method of securing an electrical terminal on a strip ofdeformable material, said terminal having a fiat end portion providedwith an aperture, said method comprising the steps of forming anaperture in said strip of less diameter than said terminal aperture,positioning the flat portion of said terminal on said strip to registersaid strip aperture with said terminal aperture and locate stripportions that border said strip apertue in alignment with said teminalaperture, pressing in one direction against said strip portions to forman annular stub in the presence of the terminal and extending throughsaid terminal aperture, pressing in an opposite direction against thefree end of said stub to flare it outwardly over the edge portion ofsaid terminal bordering said terminal aperture, and embossing portionsof said strip in said one direction to provide projections disposed inlaterally abutting engagement with opposite edges of said terminal.

6. The method recited in claim 5 wherein said embossing step is etfectedat locations to provide said projections in a triangular relationshipWith the axis of said stub.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,815,124 12/1957 Pellier 206-JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

THERON E. CONDON, Examiner.

J. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner.

